Fitzroy River 

The Fitzroy River was discovered in 1837 by George Grey in the H.M.S. Beagle and named after a former Commander of that ship, Captain Robert Fitzroy R.N.

The river rises in the King Leopold and Mueller Ranges, the major tributaries being - to the north-east and east - the Leopold, Margaret, Mary, Louisa and the O'Donnell, to the south, Christmas Creek, to the north and north-west, the Barnett, Hann, Trainor and Adock Rivers.

It flows through rugged hills and plains for a distance of 750 kilometres before discharging into King Sound, south of Derby. It has a catchment area of 90,000 square kilometres of which half is above Fitzroy Crossing.

When in flood the Fitzroy River is an awesome sight and one of the largest rivers in the world. In 1935, the Fitzroy got its first bridge - a low level concrete structure, which was built up into a wider structure in 1958. This bridge could be closed for months at a time during the wet weather and intrepid travellers were then treated to the experience of a flying fox, which operated about 200 metres south of the crossing.

When a new bridge was erected in 1974, the focus of the town grew away from its original site. The current townsite of Fitzroy Crossing is one of the fastest growing in the Kimberley, due to Aboriginal resettlement, mining and tourism.

Record floods occurred in 1983, 1986 and 2002 with approximately 13 metres of water over the old concrete crossing. The flow rate down the 15 kilometre wide flood plain at Fitzroy was estimated to be 30,000 cubic metres per second. In flood, it is probably the largest river in Australia.

Fitzroy Crossing is 100 metres above sea level, and with 360 odd kilometres to run to its mouth, there are millions of hectares of wide open plains in the valley which must one day be reticulated.

Check with the locals to find a good spot on the mighty river to fish for the magnificent Barramundi.